Happy with Budget, we got what we had asked for: Maneka

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has witnessed a rise in the allocation of funds in the Union Budget as against the last year. The ministry has been sanctioned Rs 17,300 crorein 2016-17 against Rs 8,335 crore in 2015-16 (which was later revised to Rs 17,257 crore). 

“We are happy with the Budget allocated to us, because we got everything that we had asked for,” said the Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Sanjay Gandhi.

Regarding Gender Budget, in which the first section includes all programmes run by different Ministries for women, there has been an increase as well. About Rs 11,388 crore was sacntioned for this in 2015-16, which has now risen to Rs 18,412 crore. 

As for the second part, the Gender Budget focuses on those programmes of different ministries that have specific allocation for women. For this, in 2015-16, Rs 69,860 crore was allocated, which has been increased to Rs 73,212 crore.

One of the core focus areas of the Ministry is malnutrition. “An allocation of Rs 360 crore has been made in 2016-17 against Rs 65 crore last year under the National Nutrition Mission. Along with this, an allocation of Rs 450 crore has been made in 2016-17 under World Bank-assisted ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services Scheme) strengthening project as against last year’s final allocation of Rs 35 crore. An additional sum of Rs 15 crore has been provided to the Food and Nutrition Board for the establishment of state-of-the-art laboratories in four regional locations in India,” the Ministry said in a statement. 

There has been a substantial increase in the amount allocated to key programmes for women. 

“For the establishment of women shelter homes, there has been an increase from Rs 52 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 100 crores in 2016-17. This will help the Ministry to create additional facilities, especially for widows,” said the statement. 

One Stop Centres have recorded a significant increase in the allocation. in 2015-17, One Stop Centres have got Rs 75 crore, while Rs 13 crore was sanctioned in 2015-16 Budget.

The Nirbhaya Fund, which has been allocated Rs 500 crore, has also got an additional Rs 400 crore. With focus on trafficking of women and children, the ministry has set-up a committee to draft a new legislation and design an institutional framework. For this purpose, the allocation has been increased from Rs 20 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 35 crore in 2016-17.